21 results for 'judge:"Thomson"'.
J. Thomson finds that the lower court properly upheld the zoning board's decision to grant the company a special use permit for the construction of a self-storage facility. The law does not require the board to deny a special use permit if the minimum infrastructure requirements are not met. Rather, it has the discretionary authority to grant the permit regardless of whether all infrastructure requirements are adequately in place.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: WD86182, Categories: Zoning
[Consolidated.] J. Thomson finds the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission properly denied the power supplier's application for a renewable energy incentive. The supplier's proposed retirement of renewable energy certificates does not satisfy the relevant statute's goal to create more renewable energy or reduce carbon emissions. Affirmed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-38815, Categories: Energy, Government
J. Thomson finds that defendant's battery and manslaughter convictions do not violate his double jeopardy rights. Although they all stemmed from the same course of conduct, defendant used multiple weapons, including a bat, handgun and rifle, while there were also breaks in the attack that rendered each act separate and distinct. The state also proved defendant's mental state changed during the assault based on his own testimony that, at the outset, he did not intend to shoot or kill anyone, which also proves each offense was based on distinct conduct. Affirmed in part.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-38910, Categories: Double Jeopardy, Battery, Manslaughter
J. Thomson finds that the lower court improperly found that the daughter is not a resident of her father's household for purposes of an insurance policy exclusion that the insurer relied upon to deny coverage for the 11-year-old girl's ATV accident. The entry of summary judgment is inappropriate in this situation where the parties' dispute this issue. Reversed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: WD85527, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Thomson finds the trial court was not required to hold an in-person hearing before it issued a decision on the couple's divorce decree. The relevant statute requires only that each party be given adequate notice and the opportunity to respond to any objections filed by the opposing party. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: February 19, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-39107, Categories: Civil Procedure, Family Law
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J. Thomson finds that the lower court properly found the minor child neglected after her third overdose on prescription medication and placed her as a ward of the state. The parents failed to obtain necessary psychological help for the child and were repeatedly unable to keep medication locked away from the child. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: WD86165, Categories: Family Law
J. Thomson finds defendant's double jeopardy rights were violated by aggravated battery and armed robbery convictions. The state used evidence of the same force to prove each conviction, which improperly allowed defendant to be punished twice for the same conduct. Although the robbery offense began when defendant pointed a gun at the owner of the restaurant, it was not completed until he stole money from a cash register after he shot the owner - the use of force implicated by the state's battery offense - and the overlapping nature of the offenses alongside the single use of force prevents both convictions. Therefore, the aggravated battery conviction will be vacated since it carries the shorter sentence. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: January 16, 2024, Case #: S-1-SC-39355, Categories: Robbery, Sentencing, Double Jeopardy
J. Thomson finds the court of appeals improperly reversed defendant's murder and tampering with evidence convictions, received after he repeatedly stabbed his girlfriend. While the 69-month delay between defendant's indictment and trial on murder charges was presumptively prejudicial, it did not constitute a violation of his speedy trial rights. The majority of the delay was caused by numerous competency hearings, several of which were conducted after defendant was declared incompetent, at which point the state could not continue with a trial. Furthermore, his segregation from the general population in prison was a result of his own violent outbursts and, therefore, did not unduly prejudice him. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-37879, Categories: Competence, Murder, Speedy Trial
J. Thomson finds that the lower court improperly found the police officer was not eligible for duty-related disability retirement. There is no dispute that the officer's PTSD and depression arose exclusively from his employment, and that he is currently unable to perform his duties as a police officer due to his occupational disease. Reversed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: October 24, 2023, Case #: WD85492, Categories: Administrative Law, Employment
J. Thomson finds the lower court improperly allowed the state's expert witness to testify about the cultural differences between the child's current family and the Native American tribe, as well as the possible permanent damage resulting from placement with her abusive parents. The witness failed to establish adequate credentials and experience regarding permanent damage. However, because the state made a good faith effort to provide expert testimony in both categories, the case will be remanded to allow for a new hearing with proper witnesses. Reversed in part.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-39139, Categories: Family Law, Native Americans, Experts
J. Thomson finds that the lower court improperly denied a citizen's motion to enforce a previous judgment entered against the prosecutor in a Sunshine Law suit. The prosecutor never asserted its right to impose costs for its responses to the citizen's requests, and cannot now condition its obligation to search for and produce records on a payment of fees and costs. Reversed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: WD85703, Categories: Public Record
J. Thomson finds the appeals court properly reversed the lower court's refusal to bind over defendant for trial on drug possession charges. The court exceeded its authority when it analyzed the legality of the search that led to defendant's arrest. A district court has no authority to review the admissibility of evidence considered by a grand jury, and while this case deals with a judge at a preliminary hearing, both procedures share a common purpose and allow for the application of similar rules. Therefore, the time constraints of preliminary hearings, which do not allow for citation of caselaw or arguments by either party, prevent decisions like the one in this case, which should be reserved for discovery and trial motions. Affirmed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-38937, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Thomson finds the lower court properly dismissed a citizen's petition for writ of mandamus seeking to compel the Missouri Secretary of State to process his sample initiative petition for the November 2024 ballot prior to the November 2022 election. The state had no constitutional obligation to process the citizen's sample initiative petition until the day following the November 2022 election. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: WD85857, Categories: Elections
J. Thomson finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of voluntary manslaughter and second-degree murder. The court did not err in excluding two video clips from a surveillance camera, because there is no reasonable probability the jury would have found another man committed the murders based on this evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: WD84633, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Manslaughter
J. Thomson finds that an appeals court correctly determined that a lower court erred in denying the woman's request for an order of protection against her alleged abuser. People seeking such orders do not need to show an "immediate need" for protection but rather simply that "domestic abuse occurred," and because the lower court never reached this issue, it improperly denied the order. Affirmed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: July 24, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-39140, Categories: Due Process, Restraining Order
J. Thomson finds a lower court erred in establishing a “stricter proof requirement” in a dispute over a public easement, and this court “take[s] this opportunity to clarify what is required” to establish a valid public easement for a road in New Mexico. The “key” to a “public prescriptive easement claim” lies in showing the “public character of the road,” and in this case parties seeking the easement provided “substantial evidence” of public use. Reversed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-38934, Categories: Property, Real Estate, Transportation
J. Thomson finds a company is entitled to minerals in a mineral-rights dispute stemming from a “lengthy and complicated dispute between
heirs.” While the details of a 1980 will were admissible evidence that some heirs should have been given notice of a “heirship proceeding,” they were not enough to “negate” the purchasing rights of the company in question because that company established purchase through a “valid” judgment more than a decade ago. Affirmed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-38601, Categories: Energy, Real Estate, Wills / Probate
J. Thomson finds a lower court did not err in seating a juror for a murder trial following a post-verdict complaint by defendant regarding alleged bias by the juror. That juror acknowledged during voir dire that he had known a detective involved in the case “for twenty plus years” and admitted it might affect how he viewed evidence in the case, but defendant did not strike the juror despite having the option to do so and therefore waived this issue. Affirmed.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Thomson, Filed On: July 6, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-39057, Categories: Fair Trial, Jury, Murder